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A Night at Great Fosters…

It was with great delight that we set off for Great Fosters- our first night away together since our little one was born.

We chose Great Fosters as the destination for our sneaky get-away as there was a great deal on Secret Escapes, and who doesn’t love a beautiful looking, luxury country house?! Great Fosters was originally built as a royal hunting lodge in 1550 and is set in some idyllic grounds, which we discovered were perfect for strolling around in, come rain or shine.

You cannot help but be impressed when you pull up to this place. And having to almost sneak through the tiny door to get in just adds to its charm.

I have to say I was a little worried we might not quite ‘fit in’ when making our way to reception, but the welcome we got soon made us realise we were going to be treated like VIP’s. Everyone was so attentive, and yet not overbearing, and Simon in particular was a real gem when serving us our afternoon tea.

We had booked an afternoon tea in the Anne Boleyn room as we knew we would be arriving before check-in, and I have to say, this is an absolute must if you visit here. I am partial to an afternoon tea, and this one did not disappoint.

Afternoon Tea in the Anne Boleyn room

With a selection of Jing Teas or coffee you will be spoilt for choice- and then of course you could even opt for a spot of bubbly or Pimms. We settled for a lovely cuppa, to wash down the delightful sandwiches, warm home-made scones, and (almost) too beautiful to eat pastries.

This is certainly a feast for your eyes as well as your stomach. And you get to eat this in front of a roaring open fire, and a range of complimentary newspapers and magazines, which means it doesn’t matter that it’s starting to drizzle outside. You can just sink back in to the chair and nestle in for a couple of hours.

But we felt we had to burn off all this sumptuous food in time for our dinner in the Estate Grill that evening, so we donned the wellies and set out in to the formal gardens for a stroll.

This was of course after we had checked in to our bedroom in the Coach House. A lovely bedroom, with King Size bed, sofa, 2 TV’s (!!) and equally luxurious bathroom, complete with complimentary Molton Brown goodies.

After sipping our complimentary glasses of champagne in the Cocktail Bar, we made our way to The Estate Grill for dinner.

A slightly more informal feel than The Tudor Room, their other restaurant, we felt this would suit us better. Yet again, the food and service was divine. We both opted for the rump steak burger with triple cooked chips, followed by the Snow Eggs for dessert (poached meringue with vanilla custard and caramel, don’t you know).

The Estate Grill

Rump Steak Burger

Snow Eggs

Once that was devoured there was nothing left to do but amble back to our room and snuggle in to the ridiculously soft pillows on our bed. Now I say ridiculously soft, and they were. I didn’t actually sleep too well as I was just not used to sleeping on a cloud. But all of this was forgotten once a Full English Breakfast (complete with multiple trips to the buffet bar for croissants and muffins) was provided in the morning.

The sun was finally shining, which meant we could have another wander round the gardens with blue skies as the backdrop.

It is safe to say we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Great Fosters. The people there truly made our stay wonderful. And even though we pretty much thought of our little girl the whole time we were there, it was lovely to get away just for one night, and be treated to a little luxury. Everyone needs a little luxury in their life now and then.